St. Stephen's Church, Peel Forest,
South Canterbury, New Zealand

1999 sketch by
Marcus Castell and courtesy of Marcus.Noel Guthrie did a pencil drawing Saint Stephen's Church,
1992. Not the one above.

The Anglican Church of
St. Stephen [the Martyr], Peel Forest: Located in Peel Forest village on
Peel Forest Road, 14 miles north of
Geraldine at the foot of Mount Peel. St.
Stephen a small wooden white weather board
church was first constructed in 1868 but was blown down in May 1884 and
rebuilt in 1886. The bell tower of this church was blown down in 1914.
There is now a separate bell tower.
The mountains are the three peaks of Mount Peel; Little Mount Peel
4,293 ft (1,303 m) to the foreground, then Middle Mount Peel and then Mount Peel proper
5,715 ft, (1742 m). To climb Little Mt Peel allow 4-6 hours and start from
Blandswood Lookout Road end and climb steadily via Deer Spur overlooking the
Rangitata. 8km, approx 850m height gain, marked tracks, some steep. A
well-formed track leads to an attractive bush edged tarn at 900m. The
Tristram Harper Memorial Hut is just
below the summit.
Historic Place Category 2,

Timaru Herald, 22 May 1884, Page 7
Our Geraldine correspondent informs us that the nor'-wester on Wednesday did
considerable damage in the neighborhood of Peel Forest, Woodbury, and along
the foot of the downs at the back of Kakahu. At Peel Forest the gale seems
to have been most destructive to stacks and chimneys. The Peel Forest
Church, it is stated, was razed to the ground. The chimneys of Mr Donkin's
new house were blown down, and several houses in the neighborhood suffered
more or less injury. It is said to be the most violent gale remembered by
the oldest inhabitant of Peel Forest district. In Geraldine the wind was not
nearly so strong, and little damage was done.

Timaru Herald, 13 January 1887, Page 2
The pretty little church at Peel Forest will be consecrated by his Lordship
the Primate of New Zealand on Sunday next.

The church has three stained glass
windows but there is one large stained-glass windows "St
Mary and the Christ - Child with St George and the Archangel Michael" by Joseph Nuttgens, Harrows 1922-23
on the east sanctuary wall. Commemorates father and son George James and son James
Robert Dennistoun. George died in Torquay, England. George had owned the Peel
Forest run. The windows were donated by Emily Dennistoun, widow and
mother who made the faculty application 26 April 1923. Dedication was
May 1923. In the Christchurch Cathedral there is a memorial stone with a
coat of of George James Dennistoun, died 1921: Adversa vitute repello.
Lower left is the Dennistoun coat of arms. Reference : Fiona Ciaran book,
Stained Glass Windows of Canterbury, New Zealand [1998].

Absolutely beautiful work.
Saint George, St. Mary BV and the Christ-Child, St Michael.We blessed and thank thee Lord
For those beyond the veil
Whose steadfast happy lives made
This dark earth for us a paradise.

The face of St Michael is a portrait of a
local settler and mountaineer who died during WWI, Lieut. James R. Dennistoun,
and there is a small representation in the bottom pane of Milford Sound's Mitre
Peak as he was the first pakeha to climb it in 1911, not a difficult technical
climb, the peak's tangled bush proved a formidable obstacle. Earlier
attempts to climb Mitre Peak had failed. The mountain rises 1,692 metres above the Sound. The second ascent of Mitre was made in 1914 but
there was a long gap until the third ascent in 1941. James R. Dennistoun of the North
Irish Horse and an observer for the 23rd Squadron Royal
Flying Corps and was shot down and died in a German hospital died of
abdominal wounds, 9
Aug. 1916, at age 33, while a POW in
a hospital in Ohrdruf, Thurungia, Germany. Buried: Niederzwehren
Cemetery,
Germany. Grave Location: IV.H.2. The insignias
of both corps, a harp and RFC also appear in the bottom pane. It is not
unusual to see a war memorial window with a warrior saint.

The other window depicts New Zealand native foliage and native birds representative for St
Francis was made in 1976 commemorating William E. Barker d.
12 March 1935 and his wife Lucy m. Barker d. 6 Oct. 1947 was designed and
executed by Roy Entwistle and dedicated 20 Feb. 1977. A
depiction of St. Brendan was designed by Roy Entwistle in 1995 to
commemorate G. H. and B. Dennistoun was executed by Graham Stewart it is a
contemporary image with references to Captain Dennistoun's service in the
Royal Navy. The fish in the church grounds was carved by Paul Deans as a memorial to author Robert Pinney and his wife Anne, both loyal parishioners, and given to the congregation
by the Pinney family in 1996. Mr Pinney wrote Early South Canterbury Runs published inand compliments L.D.G.
Acland's The Early Canterbury Runs.

The elemental magic that pervades the remote mountain
forest has entranced many. For sixty-eight years, Ngaio Marsh came to
the forest and the community appears in a number of her novels. Here she is
remembered for her dramatic performances in the village hall and by her
paintings, which hang in the local houses. She is buried in the churchyard
cemetery Mount Peel. Douglas Lilburn's orchestral tone poem Forest was based
on his time on the mountain, he climbed Mt Peel. This work and its
subsequent prize,
was the first significant recognition given to
Mr. Lilburn as a composer. Austin Deans, son in
the fourth generation of the first European to settle on the Canterbury
Plains, used the area as his principal source of artistic inspiration as
does his son Paul. Among others are the artists Douglas Badcock and Ben
Woollcombe, historians Robert Pinney and Leo Acland, photographers Alfred
Barker and Julie Riley and the scientists Sir Julius von Haast, Leonard
Cockayne and Dr Brian Molloy.

St. Stephen's Church at Peel Forest, January and April 2007 looking
lovely bathed in autumn leaves. The church is surrounded by trees making photography
difficult but it is beautiful, so serene and peaceful with only the birds
singing.
Photos courtesy of M.T.

Timaru Herald 2nd December, 1880 Birth:
DENNISTOUN. At Peel Forest, on the 21st Nov., the wife of G.J. Dennistoun of
a daughter.

James Lorgelly and Kate Bryan married in 1894

The Times Monday, May 14, 1883 Birth:
On the 7th March, at Peel Forest, Canterbury, NZ, the wife of George J.
Dennistoun, of a son.

The Times Friday, May 06, 1921 Death:DENNISTOUN - On the 4 May 1921, at Savile House, Torquay, suddenly,
George James Dennistoun, of Peel Forest, Canterbury, NZ, aged 73. Most
dearly loved. Funeral services leaves Savile House tomorrow, Saturday.

Christchurch Press, 24th March 1927.
On March 17th, in England, Barbara, only daughter of the late G. J.
Dennistoun, of Peel Forest, and Mrs Dennistoun, Highdown, Winchester,
England.

The Times Wednesday, Mar 31, 1937 Death:DENNISTOUN - On March 29, 1937, at Highdown, Winchester, Emily, wife
of the late George James Dennistoun, of Peel Forest, NZ, in her 86th year.
Private funeral, Torquay, 2 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday)

The Times Friday, Mar 08, 1940
The engagement is announced between Lieutenant Desmond Samuel Royse Martin,
Royal Navy, elder son of the late Mr and Mrs Harvey Martin Coombe Martin,
and Joanna Beatrix, only daughter of Commander G.H. Dennistoun, of
Peel Forest, Rangitata, NZ.